The invention relates to a disc brake having a brake caliper engaging over a brake disc and brake pads on both sides of the brake disc, a pad hold-down device which secures the brake pads to prevent them from falling out of the disc brake and which, in bearing against the pad back plates of both brake pads, extends transversely to the latter, and comprising a flat spring, which bears resiliently against the side of the pad hold-down device remote from the brake pads, which extends in the longitudinal direction thereof, and which is supported by its two spring ends in spring abutments, wherein a component of one of the spring abutments is a fastener, which extends transversely to the pad hold-down device and the flat spring.
The invention further relates to a flat spring of a hold-down assembly for the brake pads of a disc brake, having a contact site in the form of a bend or curvature of the flat spring arranged at a middle portion of the flat spring with the outer curvature side facing the brake pads.
The invention further relates to a clip and particularly a fastening clip for a hold-down assembly comprising a pad hold-down device and a flat spring.
In disc brakes having a brake caliper accommodating the brake pads in pad take-ups measures are required in order to secure the brake pads, to prevent them from falling out of the pad take-ups. For this purpose, the pad take-up is often bridged by a stable retaining clip, which extends transversely to the brake pads and is fixed by its ends to the brake caliper, as is the case, for examples in EP 1 069 334 B1, EP 2 057 384 B1, DE 10 2005 044 091 A1, DE 10 2005 045 877 B3, DE 20 2008 013 446 U1 or DE 10 2015 000 857 A1. A flat spring, which is supported by its spring ends against the pad back plate of each brake pad and in the area of its spring center against the retaining clip from beneath, is arranged between the retaining clip and each brake pad. This affords a constant hold-down force acting on the brake pads and directed towards the axis of rotation of the brake disc.
Since in the aforementioned disc brakes the springs supported on the brake pads are exposed to the heat from the brake pads and the brake disc, EP 2 687 746 B1 and EP 1 898 115 B1 disclose technical solutions in which there are no spring elements situated between the retaining clip, running transversely over the pad take-up, and the brake pads. Instead, a single flat spring is arranged on the outside of the rigid retaining clip and impinges on the latter with a spring force directed toward the brake pads. The retaining clip itself is therefore the pad hold-down device, for which purpose it bears directly against the upper edge of the back plates of the brake pads. The flat spring is supported in the area of its spring center against the top of the pad hold-down device remote from the brake pads, whilst its two spring ends are fixed in spring abutments on the brake caliper. A component of the one spring abutment is a fastener in the form of a bolt, which extends transversely to the pad hold-down device and the flat spring. The bolt serves both to lock the pad hold-down device and to fasten the flat spring. This double locking function performed by the use of the bolt leads to disadvantages in assembling the hold-down assembly, for instance after changing the brake pads because of wear.
The object of the invention is to improve and to simplify through technical measures the assembly of the hold-down assembly, for example, after changing the brake pads.